The Methodist Chinese Mission
Courtesy B.C. Archives: C-05465

Men with a Mission

Another San Franciscan, John Endicott Gardiner, arrived in Victoria in 1885 to serve as an interpreter in a Chinese trial.  As a result of this work, he was offered a permanent position in the Victoria Customs House.

Gardiner volunteered to 'teach n’ preach' for the Chinese Methodist mission and his accomplishment of preparing a class of eleven for Baptism for Missionary Secretary’s visit in the autumn of ’85 is on record in the United Church annals.  He quit his government post in 1888 to become a clergyman with the Methodist church.

Reverend Alex Brown Winchester served a traditional flock in Ontario before his appointment to the Victoria Chinese Presbyterian mission.  The Presbyterian Church appears to have had a hard time finding a suitable candidate for this work.  Among Winchester’s qualifications was a knowledge of Mandarin, which actually proved problematic in Victoria.

Sources:Osterhout and Chinese Presbyterian Church